This weekend has been spent alternating between binging on Magic: The Gathering and flipping through old photos. Somewhere along the way I overindulged on the coffee and went on an editing binge too, the results of which are before you.
Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado is one of the most amazing places I've ever visited. Back in 2017 I got to spend a couple weeks camping, hiking, and shooting there, all these photos are from that glorious adventure.
I spent a couple weeks there but I could have easily spent a couple years and still not be satisfied. There's so much to see and shoot, besides the mountains themselves there's an abundance of flora and fauna, along with lakes, rivers, waterfalls. . . you get the idea.
Back in 1982, a dam way up in the mountains in the park gave way and the water released carried tons of rock with it downhill. When it finally hit a flat spot the rocks quit rolling and piled up, forming the alluvial fan. Think rock pile that can be seen from space with a river running over it, photo above is looking up at part of it.
I tried to catch every sunset while I was in the park.
Sunrises not so much, it was still colder than I cared for until well after sunup usually. Besides, between the morning fog and low lying clouds there usually wasn't much in the way of visibility then.
Did you know that a grove of aspen are all one big organism? The roots are all interconnected underground and can live for thousands of years, although the individual trees' lifespans are measured in decades.
I ain't got enough fingers and toes to count all the lakes in the park but according to Google there's 156.
Many of the lakes were formed by glacial action in the Rockies' younger days. The one above is Emerald Lake and the one below is Sprague Lake.
You could fish in many of the lakes which I thought was neat until the ones fly fishing kept ending up in my shots.
The real gems of the park are at the higher altitudes.
Getting up above the treeline is like entering another world. Everything grows low and slow there and the wind is a near constant companion. Clouds below you and nothing but the sky above.
Social distancing ain't got nothing on being above treeline, you get a sense of isolation there that I've never experienced elsewhere. With the wind whipping around you and the sheer scale of your surroundings, you also get a sense that your continued existence is at Mother Nature's sufferance.
The growing season is extremely short there so everything has to get its summer activities in in a hurry.
Alright, who got drunk and put the collar on the elk?
The clouds make for fun photos, at least when they're not completely blanketing everything.
Trail Ridge Road is the only road that runs across the park (and the Rockies) and then only during the warmer months. It's the highest continual highway in the United States, reaching a bit above 12,000 feet of elevation.
All of the photos from above treeline were taken along the road at various points. Trail Ridge Road was built in the 1930s to replace the Old Fall River Road which was the first road for cars in the park. The old road is dirt and only open July through September but it's a hell of a fun drive and runs into Trail Ridge Road at the Alpine Visitors Center.
The only other place I've been where it rained as much as RMNP was in Florida. Just like in Florida there was an early afternoon thunderstorm just about every day but rarely did the rain last more than an hour or two.
I can't decide if messing with these photos have made my wanderlust better or worse but that's probably enough for now. Either way, it's time to get back to playing Magic, y'all enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
